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I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

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Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#91

Post by mousethatroared »

darth_avocado wrote: post #23
cypherpunks01 wrote: post #13

A surprising amount of Americans refuse to drink tap water entirely, in their own suburban homes with quality municipal water, or anywhere else they travel, holding the opinion that plastic bottled water is safer and better. Of course bottled water is regulated far less than tap water, and contains an ungodly amount of microplastics from manufacturing and storage. Under-sink RO systems seem pretty great to me, anywhe…

One side effect of RO is vitamin B12 deficiency. And there is some debate around whether that is true or not, but anecdotally, I had developed a severe B12 deficiency to the point that one day out of the blue, I couldn’t move one of my legs. I freaked out and went to the ER, and it turns out, 1 B12 shot later, I went back to normal within minutes. The doctor hypothesized that I had developed a severe B12 deficiency b…

If water is giving you any nutrient in a significant manner, change your diet.

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#92

Post by recursivedoubts »

mihaaly wrote: post #88
recursivedoubts wrote: post #45

I'm a dude who doesn't care to run a chemical analysis of my municipal water every couple days. I filter my water.

Have you tested your filtered water - in various conditions - or you just trust it based on the words of others?

I just trust the carbon filters. Sorry.

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#93

Post by bernawil »

donnachangstein wrote: post #46
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #11

Money quote: > readings of PFAS that exceed EPA limits have been found in just 8% of small public water systems (those that serve fewer than 10,000 people) and 15% of large ones 15%! Anyone who trusts their municipal water supply because of *handwave* regulations and reports needs to read that again. Even if my water were 100% pristine as the author's apparently is, which they only know for their own homes because th…

> and maintaining a dedicated three stage filter spout next to my kitchen faucet costs me approximately nothing Calling bullshit on this one. I have one, it's positively wonderful, but the filters are expensive and per the manufacturer's recommendation you're supposed to change them all simultaneously. So when one times out, they all time out. This runs approximately $150 a year minimum depending on usage.

> So when one times out, they all time out

Some units give you different fixed timespans for each. For that reason, I just use the Reverse Osmosis stage and ignore the rest. RO is the last step, and in theory it renders pure water meaning the only reason to have the previous ones is to pre-filter somewhat the water and extend the RO cartridge lifespan. Problem with that is, first, there's no way to gauge when each filter is spent. Second, they're priced the same anyway, so why even bother. Just go straight from tap to RO! Keep the post re-mineralization stage if you want.

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#94

Post by margalabargala »

tguvot wrote: post #74
margalabargala wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate? I have an undersink RO filter. Maintenance consists of changing filters every year or two.

you need sterilize entire system periodically. and completely empty/refill tank once in a while

I totally believe that the system you have requires this, but plenty of others do not.

Here's the maintenance manual for the one I have. The sterilization and emptying/refilling are done as part of the filter replacement, and not otherwise:

https://www.whirlpoolwatersolutions.com/wp-content/manuals/W...

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#95

Post by righthand »

torqueehmada wrote: post #83
righthand wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: Is there some implied negative critique of Consumer Reports here? I rather enjoy their work and the fact they're reader funded, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's something I should be aware of that's not clear from it (the way they test or how they accept another type of money). I know they review too many cars (every issue lately features a car banner at the top of the cover).

Incoming anecdata: I'm in my 50's and consult consumer reports whenever I need to buy a white-box appliance. I've moved a few times so I find myself having to do this more than most people. The qualm I have with CR goes back to the 1980's when I was a bike mechanic for many years. I had a broad knowledge of all the current brands, and knew which bikes were cheap junk. CR had incorrectly ranked the quality of the bicy…

Thank you that is very informative in the context as I'm rather new to Consumer Reports. There definitely articles strange rankings. For example I was looking for an reverse osmosis filter and this is something consumer reports just doesn't really have ranked (at least no searchable from their website). They have 1-2 models and they're both not brands that match "reddit reverse osmosis filter" when I do a web search.

I do enjoy their studies on things like: the percentage of plastic particles in General Mills products.

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#96

Post by lxgr »

mousethatroared wrote: post #90
Barrin92 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sorry if this is a stupid question because we don't have chlorinated water in Germany, but do people brew green tea or good coffee with tap water? Doesn't it taste god awful? One of the things which I remember from my holidays in Spain as a kid, which is one of the few countries which adds it here, is that the water tasted like pool water.

Its extremely unlikely that German water isn't chlorinated. Perhaps you are thinking about fluorinated? Chlorine in water is actually fine and tasteless at the concentrations it reaches at the taps - it's basically extremely diluted stomach acid. The problem is chloramines caused by chlorinated organics. These give water the swimming pool smell and are bad for you. The solution is easy - reduce the organics in the wa…

Chlorination of drinking water is indeed uncommon in Germany.

If it’s done, the level is often imperceptible, contrary to the US (I actually had to look this up – I’ve never tasted it in German drinking water in various cities myself).

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#97

Post by tguvot »

margalabargala wrote: post #94
tguvot wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you need sterilize entire system periodically. and completely empty/refill tank once in a while

I totally believe that the system you have requires this, but plenty of others do not. Here's the maintenance manual for the one I have. The sterilization and emptying/refilling are done as part of the filter replacement, and not otherwise: https://www.whirlpoolwatersolutions.com/wp-content/manuals/W...

" Maintenance consists of changing filters every year or two." it's not same as "disconnecting lines and pouring bleach inside when i change filter" or using "Manufacturer recommends using the Model 7301203 Sanitizing Kit"

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#98

Post by lxgr »

justincormack wrote: post #59
Barrin92 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sorry if this is a stupid question because we don't have chlorinated water in Germany, but do people brew green tea or good coffee with tap water? Doesn't it taste god awful? One of the things which I remember from my holidays in Spain as a kid, which is one of the few countries which adds it here, is that the water tasted like pool water.

Water is chlorinated in Germany [1]. There may be less as ozone may be used as primary disinfectant. [1] https://www.lenntech.com/processes/disinfection/regulation-e...

At imperceptible levels.

Compared to that, in New York, I can definitely taste it and it took some getting used to. (Ironically, at this point my senses seem to have been rewired to associate the taste of chlorine with fresh, i.e. non-stale tap water.)

Re: I'm Wirecutter's water-quality expert. I don't filter my water

#100

Post by bilsbie »

mousethatroared wrote: post #84
OptionOfT wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your filter system is not set up for water that is microbiologically unsafe to drink. And if that filter setup also has an RO system your cost is more, as with RO you have a certain amount of rejection rate.

I trust my municipality to give me microbiologically safe water. Because I trust bleach, not my local water authority. I certainly do not trust them to give me chemically clean water. So I have a $150 under-sink RO system.

Is there a chance it can get contaminated with bacteria? I worry about the water sitting in there.
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